ASDFGHJKL I actually catch up with Yamato. No more late posts WOHOO *remembers Magi and Muv Luv* …Damn. By the way, I apologize for not replying to comments on the previous Yamato post. I’ve been out a lot these days and I didn’t realize my post was published already, and it was too late. Gomen!

Goodbye, Earth // As Yamato’s about to leave the Solar System, Okita, taking Niimi’s suggestion, lets the crew to talk with their family members one last time. Some of the crew have tear-jerking conversations, some end up having arguments, and some don’t say a single word to their relatives on Earth until the last minute. However, some also don’t make the calls to earth because they have nobody to call over there. This gave me a pang on my heart, and I’m sure lots of audience had the same feeling when they watched this episode. Things we humans take for granted in this modern era is so precious in the Yamatoverse. The air we breathe, the shining sun, the booming civilization – these are just some of the things the humans in Yamatoverse can’t have because of what happened to earth, and family is no exception.

*sobbing* ALL MY FEELS

Dessler // The leader of Gamilan Empire and the one who’s leading the entire army to conquer other planets, including Earth. Probably the most handsome Avatar Gamilan in the entire universe, and he has this weird habit of talking sultry as if he’s trying to be sexy. Obviously, that’s not working thanks to his skin. Also, he likes to think of strategies as “games” and whatnot. Let’s just say that he’s not a normal Gamilan. Despite all that though, it’s not hard to see that he’s a wise leader who dedicates his life for the good of his people. He might not make his own speeches, but he did make some of the best strategies, and one of it can be seen in episode eight. His plan might not be outstanding, but there’s little chance that a Gamilan except him would think like that. Another thing about him is that he’s full of compassion. He doesn’t treat second-class Gamilans as equals (probably to show the difference in ranks and to prevent rebellion), but he knows when to be kind to them. Dessler is the mean bastard who screwed up Earth, but he’s doing a good job leading the Gamilan Empire.

The Gamilans have Japanese subtitles

What is Human? // This is what episode nine is all about. No, not quite like this. Episode nine asks the audience not about the definition but whether the common definition of “human” is what makes someone “human”. With the Gamidroid acting and starting to think like humans, Yamato challenges us whether we can accept something foreign to our logic. If the specified foreign object fulfills the sufficient requirements of a human, won’t that make it a human, especially if it has a heart? If we don’t accept that foreign object as something called “human” even though it meets the requirement, then what about those who are actual humans but have no hearts to have human-like emotions? Are they any better than the foreign objects they themselves reject as “human”? Yamato raises the issue of tolerance and acceptance, the society lacks these days. It’s saddening how our society became like that just because of some narrow minded people.

Moar sobfest

Promise // Something people these days can say so easily actually saved Yamato in episode ten. Not wanting to break his promise to the Yamato crew, the captain of the second-class Gamilan kills a pure-bred Gamilan and tows Yamato out of the alternate dimension. Unfortunately, this costs the second-class Gamilans their lives, and the negotiator in Yamato has no choice but to stay. This episode brings back something that most of us have forgotten as the time went by: the importance of the fulfillment of a promise. Promise, at first called promys, came from the Latin word promissum, which means “pledge” or “vow.” And yet, people nowadays can break promises or even don’t bother fulfilling it. Promissum is lost now, but it was revived in thisepisode.

If the last arc leaned towards action, then this arc was just an emotional-fest. Too emotional for me as I was trembling, trying to hold back my tears when I watched episode seven, but the dam broke when I saw Gamidroid’s blood oil splattered on Analyzer’s face in episode nine. IT WAS SO SAD I COULDN’T TAKE IT. The video call to Earth helped me to understand the characters better as it indirectly told the back story of characters. Because of that, I was able to appreciate the characters I’m not so fond of, especially the megane-dude. Heck, I don’t think I hate any of the characters now. Except the Head of Security; that guy is a jerk. Just look at his face! His eyes are slanted, and he always smiles! That’s the characteristic of evil characters in anime. Unfortunately, he didn’t make any video call so I wasn’t able to like him. I hope his story will be told later as the story moves along. I’m also seeing some progress in the love triangle between Kodai, Yuri, and Rei. Well, not really love triangle since Kodai hasn’t noticed the extra attention both the girls give him. Gosh, Kodai, you’re such a dunce. I hope that he shows some jealousy for Yuri, because he’s SUCH AN AIRHEAD when it comes to women aagghhh. Well, he does give Yuri special attention though, so might be a good thing.

I’m starting to be curious about the Wave Motion Engine, especially the Navigation Room. It freaking shines, and a random unknown Iscandar woman keeps popping out of nowhere. It’s creepy, but it’s also fascinating at the same time. Who is the Iscandar woman? Is it the spirit of Sasha? Is Sasha’s spirit guiding Yamato? The mysterious aura surrounding the Iscandar race makes me excited. I’m also excited about the alternate dimension Yamato landed in episode ten. The fact that the wrap is different proves that the alternate dimension is no ordinary dimension. Sanada claimed that it’s a place where dimensions cross each other. Does that mean that there are other dimensions out there? … Parallel worlds? DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH MAHOROBA MOVIE THAT’S COMING OUT IN 2013!? I hope the alternate dimension will be explained further, if not, I hope it has something to do with Mahoroba. I need to start marathoning Harlock and the Express thing then *sigh*

I also hope that the Gamilan hostage (can’t remember her name yet) has a bigger role later on in Yamato. She seems like a good Gamilan citizen despite her proud aura. It’s probably a pure-bred Gamilan thing. How the crew treated her also piqued my interest. The crew was surprised after all when they saw her human appearance. Maybe the new hostage will be the bridge that connects Earthlings and Gamilans?

21 Responses to “Space Battleship Yamato 2199 07-10”

Oh hey, the site isn’t blocked by the office server this week. Might be because it’s close to New Year…

Anyway, if you’ve forgotten, in 2199 there are actually 3 Iscandarian sisters now, rather than the two in the original, with the youngest being the first sent to Earth to provide the actual engine blueprints. It’s theorized she’s the one in the capsule taken in by the ship prior to launch (and is sitting right now in the sealed room close to the engine), but there’s a LOT of things going on with this iteration’s Yuki that many think that SHE is the extra sister, just along with the ride home.

I haven’t watched the original Yamato, so I was confused with the amount of sisters in here. Seems that the anime crew tweaked some stuff here and there. All of the hints point Yuki (I keep spelling her name wrong)as the last sister, but I don’t know…

And we won’t pester you about new episodes until at least the end of February….

The crew’s party is something sort of new. They has the calling home to Earth before, and in the third series they had something that referenced the crossing the equator ceremony. But this is a full on party. I would not the original version of this episode was the last time we saw any other women on the ship other than Yuki until many years later. I do like how they are making characters that were not in the original series, but introduced later relevant to the story. Or at least keeping them in ones mind that, “yes they are there and do things”. In this case those characters would be Tokagawa’s younger son (the slightly chubby by taking care of Tokagawa’s granddaughter), Admiral Hijikata, and the General that Niimi was talking to at the end (he never had a name in the entire orignal run of the show).

At least Schultz ad Ganz had a noble ending this time around. Last time they tried to ram Yamato and got knocked off course by the rocket anchor just enough for them to simply run into an asteroid. This time they go down shooting and providing useful information to command…about the wave motion gun. And Dessler also gets to show off his better nature by giving them promotions and better status to their families.

Episode 9 is entirely new. They never had one of those stories before. It is a tear worthy story. And yes, the Security Chief seems like a bastard snake in the grass type person.

Episode 10 was similar to another few episodes but handled very differently. Captain Lang is one of those rare honorable enemy captains we encounter in Yamato. The ones that will be curtious and kind and would be a friend if they were on the same side, but also quite willing to face Yamato in combat once able. There new passagner/prisoner will have more screen time in Episode 11. We don’t know her fate yet. Though we know she’s the daughter of the Admiral of the Gamilas Fleets…so that might means a lot for later.

We pretty much think the youngest sister from Iscandar is in the autopilot room. But Yuki’s backstory is so weird in this that it can seem like she is that sister. That and all the goddess type women (at least in previous versions of this show) all look at least somewhat like Yuki, though usually with much longer hair. This is also shown since Kodai and Shima think Yuki looks like Sasha of Iscandar, who they found dead on Mars, and in Yuria’s reaction to Yuki when she regained consciencenese after being “visisted” by the “ship’s ghost/goddess”. In the original Yuki called home and taked to her mother and father, who also saw her off from Earth (they had a parade of the new Yamato crew members from the assembly to the ship). Her mother was even showing her pictures of men she was trying to set Yuki up with when she got home (much like what Nanbu’s mother is doing for him in this version). Here, Yuki is talking to the Admiral of the Fleet who she says has been taking care of her this last year. He does tell her to come back safely though…which suggests she’s not from Iscandar, as she would logically stay behind of Iscandar if she was. She tells Kodai she has no memory over a year ago (probably when the Iscandarian ship arrived), and appears to not know if she has family anymore. It is probably a red herring, but you can never tell in this series.

It’s okay, I got the hints. It was one of the reasons why I made this post ASAP.

To reply your comment in the previous post, yes, the new Yamato seems to be lacking discussion, not only in here but also in the aniblogsphere (except animekritik). It’s probably how the release of the episodes work, and it’s a remake. Most people I know prefer the original than the remake. Y’know, classic and all that. They already discussed the original too, so they probably don’t see the need to watch or discuss about the remake.

So some of the Earthlings shown in the video call might show up in the sequel? That would be fun to watch! Though this give me hints that some of the crew will die *sob*

Did Schultz make it in the original anime?

About the Head of Security, now that I’ve cooled down, it makes sense for him to be sneaky like that. He is responsible for the security after all, so he must have some unfavorable personalities necessary for his job. I’m still curious about his past though. There must be a reason why he’s like this now #animelogic

I’m still conflicted about Yuki, but I can’t help but thinking that she is the youngest sister. Somehow, the timing of her memory loss and the youngest sister’s arrival to earth match. I also think that her living with the admiral is not a coincidence, since the admiral is from the military and has some kind of knowledge about the youngest sister. Maybe he too her under his care and ends up loving her as his own daughter. I don’t know about the goddess thing, but my theory for the woman inside the navigation room is Sasha’s spirit. I’m still sticking with that theory

Schutlz ship crashed into an asteroid and exploded in the original series (episode 10). He and the remains of his fleet tried to ram Yamato and failed. Though Yamato has a special defense system that we’ve not seen yet in Yamato 2199. We suspect they might use it in Episode 13 (the defense system requires a large number of asteroids and we see a bunch in the trailers for Chapter 4).

As for people dying in this show. We don’t know yet if the same events will happen as they did before. In some versions of this show (various seasons and films) the question becomes not “who will die” but “who will survive”. But that is usually only really needed if Yamato is facing the Comet Empire or a expy of said Empire. Different versions of that arc has different people die (in one version say Shima dies, while in another he lives and Kodai and Yuki and most of the crew die, while in another Kodai and Okita die, while in a fourth version, none of them die.) We just can’t tell yet.

Though there is one other thing. An old Trope I suppose. “if you didn’t see them die, or there is no body…question if the character is dead”. I don’t know if that is the case in Yamato 2199. But just because we think someone died in a sci-fi show like this does not mean they are died.

I’ve gotten through 7 and 8, and thought the party in 7 was a nice touch, along with the calling home, although it would seem to me that that’s the kind of thing that would just make people upset (but I’m not in a situation where I am going somewhere that I’d never see people again, so my impression is not really relevant).

In 8, I thought Desler was portrayed interestingly. He seems to have contempt for the masses who cry their adulation for him, *and* the sycophants that suck up to him. And while I’m sure he didn’t intend for the Yamato to be able to escape, he accepted that it did without any sort of ranting or crazy behavior, unlike some of those around him, even seeming pleased that they were able to escape his trap. He doesn’t seem like as much of a outright villain as he could be (this could certainly change). He seems more like a bad guy just because he’s on the other side of a war.

People have different impressions, and it’s ok to express them out. It’s just that you probably have a different perspective from Okita. Okita is more to the soft side because there’s no guarantee that all of the crew will be back.

Dessler is what I call a leader that’s right for his job, because so far he’s able to control his country without even any kind of force (except conquering other galaxies). He has the charisma, the brain, the rationality, etc. Let’s see whether he’ll stay like this or not

Just to let you know, Chapter 4 was released on BD and DVD last week (it has done very well in terms of sales for both). I’ve not seen the episodes on any sites yet (though I have the BD already). So I imagine they will be able to be found in the near future, if one has not bothered to purchase a copy.

Recent confirmation that Chapter 6 and 7 will be out sooner than originally expected means that the TV series will be 26 episodes released from April 7th to October 6th. The episodes will get ahead of the BD release on September 15th and stay ahead for two episodes until the release of the Chapter 7 BD on September 25th.

Chapter 6 will come out in theaters in June with the BD out in July followed by Chapter 7 coming out in August, with the BD coming the aforementioned September 25th.

And while this is being done in the present fashion, an episodic version would not be a bad thing. It would let people know it is out there, now, in the present. Because this is a under talked about show.

And in addition there is a 10 minute preview of Episode 23…when Yamato arrives at Gamilas. But I think its been put on private while the film is in theaters. But since the episode will be on TV this Sunday, it will show up online eventually anyway.